“The Holy Father follows with affection and commotion the situation of Charlie Gard, and expresses his own closeness to his parents,” reads a statement issued by Greg Burke, the pope’s spokesperson. “He prays for them, wishing that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end will be respected.”

Pope Francis tweeted on 30 June:

“We are ready to welcome Charlie Gard in our hospitals in Rome. ‘Gemelli’ , ‘Bambino Gesù’ or similar structures are here to help him continuing his life,” Don Carmine Arice, the Director of the National Office for Pastoral Care in Health of the Italian Bishop’s Conference says.

This is the last message by Charlie Gard’s parents announcing doctors refusal to take him home: